• Drinking: Cappuccinos from Barefoots Joe–the very best kind.
• Listening to: Beach House Pandora.
• Wearing: Sweater everything! Sweater tights & a big fluffy sweater on top. I can’t even pretend to understand this silly weather.

HELLO, CHERI.

I’m writing to you today with chilled bones, but a very warm heart. Yesterday, on an unseasonably cold April afternoon, my friend’s family was made full with the plus-one of sweet Evan Daniel, the baby they’ve been in the process of adopting these past six or so months, waiting on another seven, praying over for many more, & loving, it would seem, their entire lives.

It’s amazing to look back & realize that I was there throughout the entire process, privileged to play witness to such an exciting event in their lives. I remember when we were first becoming friends, one of our earliest phone calls was when Angie (Roberts, happy mother of the family mentioned above) called me to help organize an advocacy table at school for an adoption fundraiser she had planned. It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come, from barely buds at the beginning of the adoption process to today, where baby Evan is a sweet, pudgy reality & I can’t even imagine life in Jackson without Angie, my faithful friend & guide.

Sometimes (most times) I’m still amazed I’ve found this community, buried in Jackson, Tenn., which I had completely written off just four years ago. Twelve hours from home, in a miracle of grace, God gave me a family, a place to belong, to see things I’d never seen before & to grow & be changed. Though it has nothing to do with me, my friend’s adoption process has impacted my life in ways I didn’t even see until now, thinking through the events of the past two years & the way I see my life leading today. Church, if you’re reading, it doesn’t stop there. You’ve each impacted me over the years. I’m a different person because of you. And I’m so glad you adopted me into your midst.

Though, as I mentioned before, the Roberts have had Evan for about six months, yesterday was the end-all, completely complete finalization of the adoption process. There had been countless court dates, conversations, prayers & tears leading up to this moment––so we celebrated in true City style: at Conger Park, cuted up in a way that only Marcie Autry can cute things, with an array of Beth Wilson baked goods, surrounded by the (church) family. Oh, I love it.

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